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Monday, April 4, 2011

What does the phrase "built on the backs of slaves" conjure up in your mind? Egypt and the Israelites? Stone temples in far east jungles? I'm sure most of us don't think of our country as such, but it was, and sadly, is. History tells us that we gained great wealth in the slave trade in the United States. This wasn't a north vs. south issue as it is often painted in the history books. The north gained as much as, or possibly more than the south financially from the slave trade. I have just learned that some of the biggest slave traders were northerners who sold the slaves to plantation owners in the south. And, after the abolition of slavery, slavers just kept slaves in places like Cuba where the laws weren't restricting the trade.

There were interesting parallels between the slavery then and the slavery and near slavery that goes on today. I learned that when slaves were kept in Cuba, producing America's and Europe's sugar cane, loads of fish and bread were being transported from northern states to the West Indies. This, I learned, was because the slaves were too busy producing sugar and had to be shipped food rather than fish for themselves. Today, farmers in impoverished countries producing for large corporations which import fruit, vegetables, coffee and chocolate to northern countries (U.S., Canada, European countries) export more than they themselves consume. The difference is, we don't send them any food (or pay them decent wages)to keep them alive in return. So, it's still the south feeding the north at their own expense and with no recourse. Our food, our clothing, our electronics, our toys, our cookware, our dishes....the list of imports made by people who are making rich corporations richer is unending. We got a lot of cheap stuff out of the deal, a better quality of life perhaps? All on the backs of slaves.

IMORTANT INFORMATION FOR PRAYER WARRIORS

This is what Japan looks like after the devastation of a tsunami. The death toll could be higher than 100,000.

This is what Kibera slum, Nairobi, Kenya looks like everyday. 25,000 to 50,000 die of starvation in our world on a daily basis. Pray against the evil constantly trying to destroy us.

Join the Torson Family

We are committed to buying fair-trade or U.S. and European made products. This means we buy much less, either because what we are looking for is simply not available or because that which is available is too costly. What it has meant is that we are able to give more liberally to those who really need it...the destitute.

"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me. Matthew 25: 34-36

Words from James

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you.Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten.Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you.